[BUG] [Windows] Claude Desktop: MSIX auto-update force-restarts the tray-resident app and opens the main window unprompted

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Claude Desktop on Windows, when running minimized to the system tray, is force-terminated by the MSIX auto-updater when a new version installs, then relaunched with the main window visible and focused — with zero user interaction. To the user it looks like the app "opens by itself."

Because desktop updates ship roughly weekly, the window pops open unprompted once or twice a week. In the most recent incident the app had not been used interactively for 2–3 days; the window appeared at the exact moment the update registered (Event Viewer evidence below).

The update check appears to run on a 6-hour internal timer (background maintenance writes in %USERPROFILE%\.claude occur on a precise 6-hour cadence while the app is tray-resident), so whenever a check coincides with a new release, the window appears.

Note: I have verified this is NOT caused by launch-at-startup — there are no Claude entries in Task Manager → Startup apps or Task Scheduler, and the machine was not rebooted at the times the window appeared.

Related (login-time variant of the same window-state problem): #56436, #30393.

What Should Happen?

After an automatic update, the app should be relaunched in its prior window state — minimized to the system tray — without showing or focusing the main window.

Error Messages/Logs

From Event Viewer, Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational, 2026-06-07 (local time). The window appeared unprompted at ~10:47 AM:

10:47:26  Id 603   Started deployment RegisterByPackageFamilyName operation on a package
                   with main parameter Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc and Options
                   ForceApplicationShutdownOption and 0.
10:47:27  Id 855   Finished resolving action lists. DeploymentRequest action lists:
                   updateList: Claude_1.9659.2.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc is updating to
                   Claude_1.11187.4.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc.
10:47:57  Id 9648  0x0: TerminateSingleService for update successful for service
                   Claude_1.9659.2.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc in package CoworkVMService,
                   terminateService: true.
10:47:58  Id 400   Deployment Register operation with target volume C: on Package
                   Claude_1.11187.4.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc from: (AppxManifest.xml)
                   finished successfully.

The ForceApplicationShutdownOption flag confirms the running tray instance was terminated by the update registration; the unprompted window appearance coincided with the relaunch.

Steps to Reproduce

1. On Windows 11, install Claude Desktop (MSIX, package family Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc).
2. Launch the app, then close the main window so it remains resident in the system tray only.
3. Wait until the auto-updater detects and installs a new release (checks appear to run every 6 hours; releases ship ~weekly). Do not interact with the app.
4. When the update registers (observable in Event Viewer → Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational, event Id 603 with ForceApplicationShutdownOption), the app is terminated and relaunched.
5. Bug: the relaunched app opens its main window in the foreground instead of returning to the tray.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

Unknown

Claude Code Version

1.11187.4.0 -- This is the Claude Desktop version, where the issue is present. The CLI is 2.1.165.

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

This is the Claude Desktop app that's having this issue. Not the CLI.